MIAMI, FL. Inspectors visiting Altitude at 801 S Miami Ave on June 12 found that the restaurant had not followed parasite destruction procedures for fish, a failure that means customers could have eaten seafood containing live Anisakis worms or tapeworms, with no documented step taken to eliminate them before the food reached the table.
That was one of seven high-severity violations state inspectors documented in a single visit. The restaurant was not closed.
What Inspectors Found
The parasite destruction violation was not the only finding that placed customers at direct risk. Inspectors also cited the restaurant for failing to cook food to required minimum temperatures, meaning pathogens like Salmonella in poultry, which survives below 165 degrees Fahrenheit, could have reached customers alive.
Inspectors found inadequate shell stock identification records, meaning the oysters, clams, or mussels being served could not be traced to a certified source. They also documented toxic substances improperly identified, stored, or used, a finding that creates immediate risk of chemical contamination in food or on surfaces customers contact.
The remaining high-severity violations included food in poor condition or adulterated, inadequate handwashing by food employees, and the improper use of time as a public health control. When time is used as a substitute for temperature control, food is allowed to sit in the danger zone between 41 and 135 degrees Fahrenheit, but only under strict tracking and discard protocols. Those protocols were not being followed.
Two intermediate violations rounded out the inspection: multi-use utensils not properly cleaned and improper use of wiping cloths.
What These Violations Mean
The parasite destruction failure is worth pausing on. Florida restaurants that serve raw or undercooked fish are required to freeze it to specific temperatures for specific durations before serving, a process that kills parasites including Anisakis, a roundworm that can embed in the stomach or intestinal wall and cause severe abdominal pain, nausea, and vomiting. Without documentation that this step occurred at Altitude, there is no way to know whether fish served to customers that day carried live parasites.
The undercooking violation compounds that picture. Salmonella, Campylobacter, and E. coli are all destroyed by heat, but only if the food reaches the required internal temperature. A piece of chicken or a burger that looks done on the outside can still harbor live bacteria at its core. Inspectors flagged this as a high-severity finding because it is a leading cause of foodborne illness outbreaks.
The shell stock traceability failure matters in a different way. If a customer gets sick from oysters, investigators need to know where those oysters came from to identify a contaminated harvest and pull it from other restaurants. Without proper tags and records, that chain breaks entirely. Altitude's failure to maintain those records means that in the event of an illness, the source cannot be traced.
Toxic substances stored or used improperly creates a risk most diners would not anticipate. Cleaning chemicals stored near or above food preparation surfaces, or unlabeled chemical containers in a kitchen, can contaminate food directly or through surfaces that appear clean. It is a violation that does not require a pattern to cause harm.
The Longer Record
The June 12 inspection was not a sudden departure for Altitude. State records show 22 inspections on file and 122 total violations accumulated across those visits.
The December 2025 inspection produced 9 high-severity violations and 3 intermediate ones, the heaviest single-visit total in the recent record. The July 2024 inspection found 6 high-severity violations. The November 2023 inspection found 5 high-severity violations and 3 intermediate ones.
The pattern across those visits shows recurring high-severity findings rather than a facility that occasionally slips on a minor code requirement. Four of the last eight inspections on record produced five or more high-severity violations in a single visit.
Altitude has never been emergency-closed in its 22 inspections on record. The June 12 visit, which produced 7 high-severity violations including parasite risks, undercooking, and toxic substance failures, did not change that.
Still Open
Florida's emergency closure authority is triggered when an inspector determines that a condition poses an immediate threat to public health. The state's own violation classifications mark undercooking, parasite destruction failures, and toxic substance misuse as high-severity findings precisely because they create direct pathways to customer harm.
On June 12, inspectors documented seven of those findings at Altitude. They left the restaurant open.